Oh my goodness, this book was the cutest, most heartwarming book I have read in such a long time. I loved everything about this book, and it made my musical heart so happy. The characters were so fleshed out and the relationships between characters were to die for. I think this may be in the running to be my favourite Becky Albertalli book I've read, and I've read them all!
One more fact about this book before I go: I baked cinnamon buns today and these characters are more of a cinnamon bun than my actual cinnamon buns. That's how good this book is.

We all know Becky Albertalli excels when it comes to writing diverse books for a younger audience. Specifically we have POC representation, Jewish rep and of course a nice range of LGBT+ rep!

This is a nice and sweet YA contemporary romance, with a bit of a twist - The main character Kate has a crush on the same guy as her best friend Anderson.

I think this is the type of book I would have enjoyed as a 13 year old when my life revolved around friendship, school and crushes. It does such a good job of capturing that energy. Similarly, it was written well and suits a younger audience much more than it suited me. I see how it will be enjoyed, but it was just not my taste - I’m old now (lol) and I’m very much past the point in my life where the issues that come up in this book are as big a deal to me as they were back then.

Finally, I am not so sure why it’s so long... The chapters are nice and short (another reason why YA readers will like this!) but the book itself seemed to drag on a little bit.

First off, thanks to NetGalley for gifting me a ARC of this book for my honest review.

Like most of us, I loved the Creekwood series - possibly loved the sequels more than the original, but that's because I love Leah, so I'm gonna be biased there! And here's the thing - while I enjoyed Kate in Waiting, I'm quite sure I'm going to enjoy the sequels (if there are any...) more. The cast of supporting characters feel more interesting than the main character of Kate here. The challenge of YA I guess, is to write a good, realistic teenage character - and sometimes we're not going to like them when they're at their most introspective. Kate does come through the other side though (JUST), which is why I'm excited for her future cameos in the next book of the series (which hasn't been announced, as far as I know!!!).

The general jist of this tale, isn't just drama club vs the Jocks - but the drama club navigating the F**k boys at the school. And that word gets said a LOT - I'm all for it, but it might not be to everyones taste (FYI). The fuck boys as a group feel very stereotypical - although towards the end of the book we start to see them as individuals, they are almost a homogeneous mass for the first half!

But the last 50 pages or so saves this book, and gives it so much HEART and SOUL, that you can forgive what has gone before - or maybe it's my strong HOPE of more from this series that I'm optimistically rating it a 5.

If you're a fan of contemporary YA books with a main focus on friendship with a hefty side helping of lovable dork and musical theatre, this book could well be for you. I'm much more of a fantasy reader, but I enjoyed Kate In Waiting a lot, particularly as it got further through. I think it's the sort of book that several of my students would absolutely love.

There are other things going on, but ultimately Kate In Waiting is about the friendship between Kate and her best friend Anderson (described by other friends as being "codependent"). It's not always a healthy relationship, but it certainly feels a lot like the day to day friendship dramas of my real life high school students. Kate and Andy have a history of communal crushes but they're usually on people who are unattainable - so what happens when their latest crush moves to join Kate and Andy's school for senior year?

The chapters are short, making it a fast, easy read, and while a lot of the action is set around rehearsals for the school musical, the story isn't really *about* the musical, it just provides a background setting. I found the plot a little slow to begin with but once I got into it I enjoyed it a lot more, and I found myself racing through the last third late at night.

I'll be honest, about half way through, I thought this was going to be a two star read for me, but I did enjoy the second half a little more, it was just really slow to get going.

There is a great cast of characters here. A close group of friends, plenty of potential love interests, parents living their best lives and a theatre director just trying to keep it all together. I really liked most of them, and as with so many other reviewers, Noah was the star of the show for me from the first time we meet him. He was just adorable.

I loved the setting of the theatre, and it certainly reminded me of some of my favourite teen movies. I also appreciated the references thrown in every now and again to those very same movies. It was nice to see Kate look past a previous bad experience and be brave enough to take to the stage again, and there's a great message in there about doing what you love no matter what others think.

What ruined this book for me was the CONSTANT references to 'fuckboys' or 'f-boys' as they are called by Kate and her friends. At first it was a little funny, but it just grated on my nerves after only a few chapters. When I say its constant, I'm really not exaggerating, there are passages where the term is used every other line. The group are painted as this loveable band of theatre nerds, yet they judge literally everyone who likes or plays sport in any way part of the 'f-boy' gang. I don't get the logic, and didn't like the way they kept looking down their noses at everyone without even knowing anything about them...

Albertalli fans will no doubt embrace this one with their whole heart, but I don't think it was really for me, despite there being some cute moments.

Before I begin this, a thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I am a little concerned that my review is going to be biased by the fact that I genuinely had a ball reading this book. I haven't had that for a while, but for some reason, Kate in Waiting just grabbed me completely.

Kate Garfield is a wallflower when it comes to her passion - musical theatre. She auditions, she waits patiently and then she's 'Villager number 3'. But she's okay with that because she's involved and gets to make memories with her best friend, Anderson Walker (or Andy to his friends). But this year, her and her BFF are in love with the same heartthrob and one of the f-boy squad is auditioning too. So this year might be a little different.

I'm a sucker for a BFF story. A BFF story where they never give up on each other and are on the same team. To quote Anderson: 'our friendship comes first. No matter what'. It's a trope that I think is underused and undervalued because romance sells more, or thrillers are easier? Who knows... but to authors, friendships often seem to run second to the story, always being the background.

I like the romances in this and how organic they feel. I love the characters and their roles in Kate's life, and at times it can feel unhealthy but I've been in a team like that and trust me, it can get overwhelming but that's what your squad can be. I love her family and how adjusted they seem and I enjoy that whilst there is clearly a hierarchy in the school, it's an idyllic space where people are mostly quite nice to each other. But honestly, it was those friendships that kept me wanting more.

Reading in Albertalli's acknowledgements about her real life squad made me see that both Becky and I are on the same page about her story. The romances are the fun that makes you enjoy the book but the friendships are the heart that make you want to talk about it. They are the main character for once, not the second string to the love affair. That to me was magical and I'm so grateful this book is out there. Teens need to see that you can find your tribe at high school and you can thrive within them and that it is okay for your friends to matter to you, more than you thought possible.

I thank Albertalli for her book. It reminded me of high school and I needed that. After finishing, I went onto my virtual world and sent a number of messages to people I haven't seen or spoken to in a long time and it was so blissful. My friendships, they matter most and it took Kate in Waiting to remind me of that.

This book has been super hyped, and was on my list of most anticipated reads of 2021.
I'm a huge theatre/musical theatre lover, and as a kid I was a massive theatre geek - now am a drama teacher haha. So, the premise of the book was right up my street. Also a fan of Becky Albertalli. So this book was a no brainer, I expected to love this.

However, I found it to be very slow paced and I just couldn't connect to the characters. I appreciate I'm a 30-something woman, and this is a YA book - but usually I love a bit of YA, this book just felt incredibly young and the characters incredibly immature. I couldn't get over the immaturity and the lack of connection to the central characters just distanced me from truly getting into this book. I have found Albertalli's previous books to be very sentimental and heart-felt - but this just seemed over the top and incredibly young.

The book was OK - but not up to Becky Albertalli's usual standard for me.

Was slow to get into but once I got past the halfway mark I begun to really enjoyed this one. I loved the focus on friendships and growing up. Full review to come

I have always enjoyed Becky Albertali’s books, they’re not my favourite books of all time or anything but they’re always fun and this was no different! It was an easy to read rom com that made me smile quite a few times!

What I will say and I don’t think this is necessarily a bad thing, this felt like a mix of Simon and Upside, the characters and the story felt like a similar mix of them which isn’t a bad thing, take a formula that works and all that!

I really enjoyed the cast of characters! Especially Noah, an absolute sunshine but I really liked Kate, Ryan, Matt, Brady and Raina and Anderson and they were all fun to read about!

I liked the relationships explored here too, I will say, I think Kate and Anderson’s friendship could be seen as toxic in some parts and the way they talked about Matt like they owned him was kinda gross in some parts. ALSO one of my absolute pet hates in books is the “let’s use their sexuality as a plot twist” trope I hate it, it’s gross and fact it was used here I hate it. Anyway, also my main OTP for Kate got together which was great I shipped them for their first interaction but I felt in the end their getting together was a bit rushed but I still really loved them as a couple.

The ending as a whole was a little bit rushed for me but overall, I really enjoyed this story and I’m looking forward to seeing what Albertali does next!!

So,let me start this review by saying that I AM NOT a Simon fan. I'm SO not a fan that I didn't even pick the rest of the books in Somonverse because I wasn't interested. Like, at all.
When I got this book form the Publisher I didn't even notice that it was written by Alberalli, so I had zero prejudice.
Thank God for that bc I enjoyed that book very much.

It's not a perfect book, but the writing is decent and it's definitely a page-turner (I finished it in one day).
I liked how even though this book is about romance in theory, in reality it's about friendship.
It's also super diverse in a very efortless way and I love that.

The ending is superobvious from the second the *guy* has been introduced, but this time it didn't bother me that much.

I also liked the dnamics between Kate and her brother, how coparenting was shown and how in general family was shown.

I was excited to be reading the latest Becky Albertalli story, but this one left me cold. I didn’t like any of the characters. The musical theatre background story was very American (understandably) but made it harder to relate to the characters and setting as this school experience doesn’t happen in the UK. I work in a school so it felt very disjointed. The relationships were extreme, especially the love triangle between Matt, Anderson and Kate. Sadly unrealistic.

This is the first book I’ve read by this author and I absolutely loved it! I love YA fiction anyway, but this book is brilliant!!! I loved Kate and her fiery personality. It was one of those books that you could just escape into for hours!!! I now understand the hype and why everyone loves this author

I flew through the pages of Kate in Waiting by Becky Albertalli. I’m hoping there a sequel is in the works, because I’ll definitely be checking it out if there is!

Kate is a serious drama buff, just like her BFF Anderson (AKA Andy). Actually, her & Andy have a lot in common – right down to the boys they both crush on.
On the 1st day back at school, they discover that their shared summer camp crush, Matt, has moved to their hometown & is auditioning for the autumn musical. They just don’t know if he is gay (like Andy) or straight (like Kate).

As different circumstances put either Kate or Anderson at an advantage, over the other, of spending time with Matt, a wedge starts to develop between the 2 life long friends. Are they really going to ruin their friendship over a guy?

Meanwhile:
🎭Auditions are coming up. Will Kate get an actual part this year, or find herself in the background again? If she does get a good part, will she be able to perform after the ridicule she experienced in her past?
🎭Kate’s brother, Ryan, & his BF, Noah, are jocks & part of the group Kate & her friends call f-boys & girls. Noah has broken his arm, so he is stuck on the bench. Due to his injury, he has also been taken out of PE & reassigned to the coveted drama class, requiring participation in the autumn musical.
🎭Ryan has been around a lot lately – is he crushing on one of Kate’s friends?
🎭Kate owns a car with Ryan, but doesn’t have her license. She tells herself she is in no hurry to change this because she is happier in the passenger seat. So why can’t everyone else leave her alone about taking her test?

Kate has lots going on, but does any of it matter if she can’t share it with Andy?

Out the 22nd of April 2021, add Kate in Waiting to your Goodreads & TBR lists now.

4/5 🌟

My sincere thanks to Netgalley, Penguin Random House Children’s UK, and Becky Albertalli for the opportunity to read Kate in Waiting in exchange for my impartial review. All opinions are my own.

First of all I would just like to say a big thank you to the author and the publisher for an E-ARC of this book for a honest review! When I got accepted I screamed because Becky is one of my favourite authors so it was like ultimate fan girl moment.

Saying that though I wasn’t sure I was going to be 100% into this book, it didn’t really seem my thing but I was totally judging it a bit on face value which in hindsight was stupid because I absolutely loved this and will definitely be getting a physical copy as soon as I can to add to my book shelf.

It follows Kate and her best friend Anderson, they both have a crush on the same boy which is nothing new to them but this time it gets a little out of hand, almost threatens to pull apart their strongly built relationship.

I read this book in a day and could barely put it down, I became fast friends with Kate but oh my god their were times when I was shouting at this book, at her, for reasons I won’t say because I dint wish to spoil it for anyone but just COME ON, KATE. PLEASE.

The pacing was quick enough to keep me interested, this wasn’t some awkward love triangle situation which I was also really glad of, it was very well written and didn’t have me cringing even once. There were points I laughed out loud which always a sign of a good book. I really loved it, I’m so glad I’ve gotten back into reading lately because I probably would have missed this book and it would have been annoying to miss something so good.

So if you’re reading this and feel a little unsure whether it’s your thing I hope you give it a go because you’d be missing out for sure!

Also the LGBTQ+ inclusivity was so good, effortlessly done.

I’m off to go watch Tangled now....Bye!

Where do I even begin???
This book was everything I’ve learnt to hope for in Becky Albertalli’s books. The book follows Kate Garfield as she tries out for her high school musical (lol) while also trying to keep her heart intact when both her and her best friend have a crush on the same boy but things get very messy and Kate has to figure out things about herself... let me start by saying I absolutely love love loved Noah Kaplan, this boy had my whole heart I swear. He was so sweet and funny. I think I’m gonna be raving about how sweet Noah Kaplan is for forever. I also loved Kate, obviously. Honestly I sometimes find myself disliking main characters but I loved Kate so much. She was such a good friend and thoughtful and talented!!! She’s so talented and I was so happy to see her push through her problem/struggles! She’s so strong willed and has such a good support system with her friends and Andy and I loved that. I loved Andy too!! And Matt!! Yeah. So obviously I loved the book, it had me waking up early to read which is saying something and I cant wait to receive my preorder of it!

Kate in Waiting is the CUTEST book I have read so far in 2021 - I absolutely could not get enough and I was so sad when I begun to reach the final pages. There's something about a story with theatre within in, that I just completely adore - I have never been a theatre kid myself and unfortunately admit that I have no talent in that genre whatsoever, but that doesn't stop me from loving anything and everything about theatre. The way everybody is glowing and beaming with joy when the final curtain closes, the tears that well up in the audiences eyes when the cast are taking their final bows, the talent that exudes on the stage from every single actor - the whole thing is just absolutely magical.

I absolutely loved the friendship between Kate and Anderson, but what I also loved about their entire friendship group was that it was insanely diverse, including gay, trans and bisexual. Kate and Anderson had that friendship that I would absolutely die for - it was written so lovely and showed us that even the most perfect of friendships can have their faults and typically, that fault was a guy. I couldn't stop smiling at the little plot twist between this love triangle and was so pleased with the final results. Especially because Noah - Kate's brother's best friend - was just an absolute dream to read about! One of my new favourite book boyfriends... I would love a Noah please!

Becky Albertalli really does have this magical way of making her high school romances feel like reality, a reality I wish I got to experience for myself and to be honest, if this doesn't become a movie in the coming years, I'll not be happy!

Kate In Waiting was just so entirely ADORABLE, I totally loved it. I’ve never been a theatre kid myself so I wasn’t expecting to connect with this one all that much, but I was pleasantly proved wrong! Becky Albertalli has such a way of making teen romance and high school life feel both so real and so romanticised, and this book was no exception. I think the thing I really loved was Kate and Anderson’s friendship, it’s so lovely to see such an intensely loving friendship be written about in a way that acknowledges those kind of friendships always have their faults. The way Kate and Anderson jumped between being mad at each other and being totally fine was slightly off-putting, but I suppose that’s just a realistic representation of high school friendships. The relationship at the end (trying to keep it spoiler free here) was slightly predictable, but nonetheless was just as sweet and lovely as the rest of this joy of a book.!

Kate and Andy are friendship goals! I want what they've got.

Kate and Andy have the perfect friendship. They do everything together, including having communal crushes on boys that never turn into anything because they are two theatre geeks in a school full of 'f-boys'. This time, however, it's different. Matt, their summer theatre camp crush, turns up at their school and suddenly a fantasy becomes a possibility. Their secret crushes used to make the pair giddy with excitement and joint pining, but now it brings problems.

From the start these two are inseparable and their bond is so sweet. People say you need to find someone that's your kind of weird and that's definitely what they have. Along with their friends, Brandie and Raina, they are some of the schools theatre geeks, the rest of the student body is mostly made up of jock types that the friends refer to as 'Fuckboys', or F-boys when they are trying to be subtle.
I'm am not complaining because I am partial to a swear, but I'm not sure I've read a young adult novel that used the word 'fuck' quite as much as this one. The dialogue is witty and the characters feel so real at times, I swear Becky Albertalli is fluent in hilarious things teenagers say and do. Kate's overthinking is very genuine and I could totally relate, and Noah wins the prize for most endearingly idiotic character. He is clumsy and cheeky and I could picture the grin on his face every time he did something stupid.

It's a fun, easy read, broken down into 'scenes' rather than chapters and it keeps you reading, wondering which way it's going to go for Kate and Andy. Will Matt return either of their affections? Is he just another F-boy? When things get messy will their friendship get through it?

There is a good deal of queer representation: gay, trans, bi. I think there was a missed opportunity for an asexual character (I actually thought there would be two) and it left me wondering if originally the character was written that way and it was perhaps deemed as unnecessary to the story and so was changed. I'm probably looking too deep into things, but I'm always on the lookout for queer representation!

There is a part that I can't fully quote without giving too much away, but Kate says something about an 'off-kilter nostalgia' and a 'rush of longing for moments I've never even lived through', and that perfectly describes how this book made me feel. The friendships, the romance, the theatre, going to parties (even terrible parties), and getting waffles with your bestie, these little scenes left me hungry for experiences (and waffles) and it's a book I'd happily live in.

Thank you to Netgalley and penguin random house children's UK for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
When I saw Becky Albertalli had a new book coming out I was very excited having loved Simon Vs the homosapien's and Leah on the offbeat.
I really enjoyed Kate in waiting, it was funny, has a glee club vibe with the musical theatre element. Unrequited love and friendship. It was a sweet story and did not disappoint.

Oh this book was just wonderful to loos myself in. It's got the magical high school feeling mixed with theatre of Grease or High School musical but then has this wonderful cast of diverse characters in modern day friendships.

Kate is such a mixed up individual. She is strong and confident on the outside but on the inside she is questioning it all and so when things she thinks she knows start to be questioned life is hard for her and I could just relate to that so hard. I loved he way she carried herself and some of her thoughts and feelings that we get let in on are just so true but sometimes just so funny too. BFF Andy makes a great side kick and I really love the way these two bounce off each other whilst still maintaining their own unique identity. You can see the perils of having a friendship as close as theirs and yet still it is lovely to see that they have each other and are there for each other.

As already mentioned, their extended group fo friends is also wonderfully diverse and I loved the way they came in and out of each others lives in different classes and social gatherings, it felt very true to life and each of them brought something fun to the group. The theatre aspect of the book is also really fun. I was never into drama in school and so the fact that this is just so involved in the plot really did make it feel like I was watching a movie and really and truly made me want to watch Glee.

I loved Becky's first novel because I loved feeling the romance and crush vibes just vibrating off the page and I totally got that with this novel too. Kate and Andy's feelings for a certain guy were just palpable and then some other unrequited romantic feelings (no spoilers here) were also just impossible to miss. I loved the characters, the setting and the musical nods in this and if you want to escape the real world for just a little longer I really recommend this book!